Bullets and Poison
by Leo6
Summary: It was supposed to be a recon mission, until she showed up. Two enemies torn between what is right and wrong has managed to cross the line, but what seems to be a perfect little world must come to an end. SpeedyArsenal X CheshireJade. Chapter 4 now up.
1. Introduction

Introduction:

"There goes the waterworks…" a young and irritated voice huffed and sputtered the water out of his mouth as the rain continued to fall even harder. Given to the way he squared his jaws tightly nearly gnashing his teeth, it was going to be a cold, long night as his sandy and drenched red hair nearly covers his eyes.

Switzerland was a temperate country and the weather can always pleasant in the south, but they never told them about the rain that are common in the capital city Zurich.

The domino mask that covered his eyes narrowed into thin slits, wishing that he could have waited fifteen minutes to let the weather change. He dropped his quiver next to him, making sure that it doesn't get filled with water and damaging, or worse shortens the shock arrowheads that can fry him until next week.

One thing that made Speedy the perfect candidate for a reconnaissance mission is his natural ability to become patient. It just came out of the blue when most of the Titans East were out on patrol while he was in charge of monitoring the city from the tower. A call arrived when scanning the city requesting that he help the government on a mission of utmost secrecy and discretion. Ironically, he once did express his desire to be involved with the military to the team, but paid little interest on it and he never did hold a grudge. As a young man, his father, a forest ranger, taught him how law and order was as important as fighting for what you believe in. In its own way it can be proportional and his dream of being Green Arrow's adoptive father and sidekick fueled his passion to fight injustice. Now was the time to honor his father by accepting the mission requested by the government.

His eyes widened slightly as he saw something move- an inkling of a shadow with near superhuman speed that caught his hawk eyes. Grabbing his quiver and slinging it over his shoulder, he pulled out one of his rope arrows and fired towards the ground below and made his move. His descent landed him in the middle of the warehouse area of the city, right in the middle of the clearing surrounded by overshadowing edifices that brings about a brooding darkness all over. Though several light posts give him a good enough view of his surroundings, he remained still as he scans the area. It may seem like a tactical error at his point, being so open and prone to any possible attack, but it can also serve him well, knowing that his adversary may soon spot him like a predator and a prey that would likely be a trap. Pulling out three flare arrows, he fires a shot up in the air and three bright yellow flashes illuminate his surroundings. The glow reflecting against the warehouse walls showed nothing, except at one corner where the flare's light cannot penetrate, and a fixed smile attached to a white face hovering ominously at his direction. Firing two stun arrows at the face, it leaps out of the way long before the arrows reaches it with lightning speed. Stunned by the sudden movement, he prepares to grab more arrows, his body stiffened when something sharp was slowly piercing his spine, and the near non-existent aroma of rosemary caught his nostrils. He slowly cranes his neck to see his captor's face, but all he could make out is the slick sheen of long, black hair that casts its shadow for him to see. He studied the shadow for a bit: slightly smaller, slender yet curvy around the edges and long, fine legs, he knows that his adversary is a woman.

And he was mentally kicking himself for thinking rather perverse thoughts when his life was now hanging in the balance.

"You have no business here." His captor spoke in a soft voice that may seem contradictory for a woman who was reported to have killed several guards for the past few days, almost like she was at peace with herself with a Far Eastern accent that makes it all the more exotic.

"Funny," Speedy grunted and sniffed, denying him the pleasure of sneezing due to the cold rain, "if it involves you having to kill several guards for your own pleasure then I make it my business."

The knife at his spine was slowly digging itself deeper as he grunted, holding his bow to near crushing level as his mind raced furiously for a way to get out of this mess.

"Those _guards_ that you speak of is the main reason why I am out here tonight."

"Like what?" Speedy spat out.

"Like I said, it is none of your business."

His eyes caught movement of the shadow of an arm raised towards the back of his neck as he steels himself from whatever it is she was holding, probably something sharp and laced with poison. Instead it was the girl's hands and at the end were her nails, which he guessed are laced with poison. Through the reports, they described that the killer was using a very powerful poison made from the juices of a plant that grows in isolated parts in Africa, and it looks like he was at the receiving end of it.

"Don't worry, you won't feel the pain of death once I'm through with you."

Risking injury to his back than instant death, Speedy tightens his grip to his bow and thrusts the end at her abdomen as if to vault away from the knife, narrowly missing the poisoned tip of her nails to his neck. Skidding across from her, Speedy pulls out a smoke arrow when his eyes widened to see a dart hurtling towards his neck. He immediately jabs the smoke arrow to the ground, covering him with grayish smoke just as the dart pierces through the cloud. His assailant follows up on the initial attack as she charges towards the cloud in a thrust kick, but caught nothing. Her senses flare up as she jumps away before two stun arrows nearly hit her feet, shortening the rain-drenched ground with fifty thousand volts of electricity.

It was a battle of speed and dexterity between the two fighters, though the female assassin was a few notches above him added to her training in martial arts, Speedy has been trained in being a ranger and sniping and his skills with a bow is nearly equal to his mentor.

A quick roundhouse kick nearly grazed Speedy's face, but failed to dodge the follow-up right jab nearly below the belt and skidded some ten feet away from her. He would have called foul on such an under-handed tactic, but with no witnesses or a referee this was going to be a fight to the death. The female assassin leaps high in the air and descends with her right foot aimed at him in bone-crushing speed. Rolling on his back to safety inches before she landed, he delivers a sweep with his right leg and taking the assassin's feet off the ground with a hard thud on her rear. Speedy then tackles her, only to meet the bottom of her feet right across the chest in a handspring. Cursing himself for falling on such a counter-attack, he watches as the assassin draws a handful of metal _shuriken_, possibly poison-laced and aimed it at him. Out of desperation he blocks the deadly projectiles with his quiver as nearly all of them pierced through it while some managed to be deflected away near where he lay. But a high-pitched sound caught his ear and a long-trail of beeps was slowly rising in volume as he broke out in cold sweat. It was do-or-die time as he threw the quiver up in the air only to explode a few feet from them. The blast was powerful enough to even alert the city's security detail and in a few seconds the sirens were cutting through the silence of the night.

Speedy groaned and his body was covered in various cuts due to the shrapnel as he held his aching head. How long he was out was the last thing in his mind when he saw that it was now drizzling. Under a column of light, the female assassin lay nearly motionless in a fetal position as he approached her with bow at ready to use as a weapon. She yelps out in pain when he saw her pull something out and drops it to the ground with a metallic clang and a long trail of coppery red slowly being washed away from the rain. With the same hand she reaches desperately for something inside one of her long sleeves, but her body was slowly feeling the effects of the poison and her body slowly shook in spasms of death. She has to pay for her crimes, at least one part of Speedy's conscience was telling him, but another part of him would never allow it as he ran and knelt towards her. The ivory mask that glimmered ever-so-slightly under the dampness of the rain was staring at him, or probably could sense him when she felt a strong hand reaching into her jade robe and into the sleeve she desperately wanted to go to. It was a small object; a vial that contained the anti-toxin that would save her life was now in Speedy's hand as he reached for her mask. The moment he pulled it off, his eyes widened to find the Oriental beauty that seemingly matches her voice when she caught her back before the fight. Her eyes had an almost cat-like appearance with soft orbs with the color of honey aimlessly tried to focus on her captor, but it was all a blur due to the poison's effects.

"Leave… me… to… die…" she gasps and snaps her head back when another spasm of pain grips her weakened body.

Speedy narrowed his eyes on the beautiful assassin, wondering if Asian fighters really do prefer death for their defeat. He had enough of watching _samurai_ films, no thanks to Beast Boy, to even debate on it as he held her head up and snaps the end of the glass vial with his thumb to create an opening. Knowing that she was too weak to even swallow anything that she even sputters the rainwater out of her mouth, he takes the anti-toxin into his instead and pressed his lips on the girl's. Her lips feel cool to the touch but he didn't care as a tiny sliver of the amber liquid trickled away on the corner of the mouth. Her flailing arms slowly became limp from being force-fed with the anti-toxin and in a few seconds she was nearly unconscious. Carrying her bridal-style he sets off to leave the city, probably somewhere they could never find them. His eyes dart from the path and to her face, which was slowly regaining her color and grinned, knowing that the anti-toxin is already working.

"Got a name?" Speedy asked to make sure she was still conscious enough to know herself, or at least that was his wishful thinking.

She hums a bit as if she was awakened from a pleasant slumber as she slowly moved her lips as she slowly spoke.

"Ch-Ches… Cheshire." She gasped.

"Name's Speedy." He continued. "Got a name besides that cat in Alice in Wonderland?"

Cheshire didn't respond after that in a few minutes as they left the outskirts of the city and into a lodge he was staying. Once he reaches the door she finally spoke.

"Jade. My name is Jade." And finally she slips into unconsciousness.

"Beautiful name." He said to himself before entering.


	2. Chapter 01

Chapter 01

Anything can happen in Jump City, whether it would be the mundane, exciting, or simply the pressure of everyday life, somehow it wouldn't be complete without an attack from something…

Or someone at least.

Hundreds of people ran and screamed in a frenzied panic as a massive stone arm swiped dangerously around destroying anything in its wake. The deafening roar shook the glass plates of buildings as Cinderblock once again wreaks havoc in the city. Piles of cars, concrete and a few injured people littered the streets as Cinderblock's simple mind could only think of rage and destruction. The sound of dozens of sirens caught his attention as he turns around, finding himself surrounded by Jump City's tactical squad of enforcers armed to the teeth. There was no reasoning for the golem as the ranking officer yelled the order to open fire. The piercing bolts of hundreds of pulse lasers only annoyed the stone giant like mosquitoes, and it wasn't long before he snapped and charged against the enforcers, smashing, breaking and repeating the cycle of mayhem. One of the enforcers tries to get a woman and her child out to safety as the two froze in total fear when Cinderblock casts its shadow above them with his hands poised to flatten them to dust. He drops his hands for a sledgehammer crush causing a tremor that is near a four on the Richter Scale.

But instead of a gruesome gooey mess, a black barrier lay evident as the dust cleared away and its occupants inside were safe from certain death. The same black bubble carried the three people inside it to safety towards the conjuror as Cinderblock watched. Five young people stood valiantly against him, and it was going to be a hard battle indeed.

"Titans, GO!" The leader yelled.

Starfire began the fight with a furious barrage of starbolts and this time Cinderblock is really feeling the pain piercing through him as he lifts his arms to block his face. With the midsection wide open, a long steady blast of Cyborg's twin sonic cannons, which he decided to have on his other arm, threw him away as he skidded some one hundred yards into the heart of the city. Cinderblock opens his eyes a bit as he see something huge blocking the sun and immediately doubled back to safety before being crushed by Beast Boy in his T-Rex form. Even outnumbered, Cinderblock allowed the disadvantage to fuel his rage even further and strengthening his resolve to destroy them as he charges forward with his right fist poised to punch them. The asphalt cracked under pressure that made a few cars jump during the initial shock, Robin took the advantage for a close-quarter combat with his metal stick, repeatedly hitting him in the head. After all, he wasn't a hard target to miss. Raven returned after getting the rest of the citizens out of the way as she carried with her powers part of a wrecking ball to use as a weapon. The steel ball collides with Cinderblock's midsection with fusion force and was once again down on his back and setting a new record for hurling a giant by 200 yards.

"We coulda just hit him with something bigger, like, an entire planet or something." Beast Boy huffed as he stood before the pacified stone giant.

"Maybe I could use your head," came a counter jab for a reply, "but then again, not enough brains to make up for the mass in your empty head.

Beast Boy could have made Raven proud by the way he was giving her his version of the death glare, but she only shrug it off as she approached the stone giant.

"Good work, team." Robin commended as he checks on Cinderblock before surveying the area to calculate the damages done.

"Well, that's pretty much the first attack from him this month." Cyborg commented as he knelt near the stone giant. "Really, I would have wanted to take on the like of Mumbo or Dr. Light, at least they have the decency to not wreck everything they see."

"It doesn't matter." Robin interrupted as the sound of sirens was already growing louder. "This is the main reason why we are a team, that is to stop the likes of him from destroying our city."

"For sure, dudes." Beast Boy chuckled as he stood over Cinderblock's chest as if he climbed the highest peak in the world with his chest puffed out. "No matter who they are, we will still beat 'em!"

"And I agree!" Starfire hovered above him as well as the two lets out a hearty laugh.

Somewhere, the laughter echoed within Cinderblock's head and even though the fire has burned out his body, the rage still kept burning to volcanic proportions as he opened his eyes and roared. The Titans turned in shock as well as Beast Boy and Starfire as a huge hand swiped them off his chest and crashed towards a wall with a loud crunch.

"Starfire, Beast Boy!" Robin yelled as he ran towards them.

Cyborg and Raven took the defensive with sonic blasts and the mystical tendrils of dark energy blasting away on the stone giant as he picked up a truck and lifted it over his head to crush them with.

"Not this time, stone for brains!" Cyborg shouted as he aimed his sonic cannon at the truck's fuel tank, instantly destroying it and hopefully along with Cinderblock. But the blast wasn't enough as he hurled the remains of the burning vehicle at them with violent results. Robin managed to bring Starfire out of her stunned stupor as she flew away carrying Robin and a still unconscious Beast Boy in her arms and landed on top of a building.

"Starfire, stay here with Beast Boy." Her leader ordered as Robin fired his grappling gun and swings towards the battle area. He takes out a couple of explosive disks out of his utility pouch and hurls them at Cinderblock, hopefully to create a distraction to get Cyborg and Raven to a safer distance to continue fighting.

Cinderblock rages on as he charges towards the Titans with his fists raised as they all prepared for a counterattack. Once he got close enough to smash them, a loud gunshot pierced through the air and a loud crack that caused Cinderblock to trip over his own feet and crashing to the ground. Several gunshots were fired, hitting him in some of the vital parts like the knees, arms, the chest, and all of these shots seem to even pierce through the stone giant. Cinderblock remained motionless for a second as he gaped towards the stunned Titans as they witnessed him being taken down with extreme prejudice. It was the last image that burned in his mind until the final shot took out his right eye as Cinderblock's head was thrown violently off due to the impact before falling to the ground. Robin's jaw would have dropped a few seconds ago, only to realize that one of Jump City's most dangerous adversaries may have been killed as he searches the origin of the gunshots. A metal clink caught Robin's attention as he turns to find a spent cartridge of a rifle as he approached it. Picking it up with his gloved hands, he was astounded on the cartridge's size, which is about five inches long. Looking up, he narrowed his eyes from the blinding sun to the top of the building where it may have fallen of and saw someone holding a large rifle in his arms that must have weighed at least seventy pounds. The sniper jumps off using a grappling hook and landed where Cinderblock lay unmoving as he examined him closely.

"Who are you?" Robin asked as he took a defensive stance as well as the rest of the Titans plus Beast Boy who regained consciousness.

The lone sniper didn't answer as he picked up the radio off his belt and spoke to it.

"_Golem_ has been neutralized. I repeat: _Golem_ has been neutralized. Cleanup team charge in to remove the body."

"Roger, sir. Over and out." The voice in the radio sputtered with static before cutting the line.

The sniper turns around to face the Titans. By the way Robin observes, he was no older than he is, which is about twenty years old. His short sandy red hair gave him the appearance that he is something of a military man, not to mention a flak jacket of his own color scheme of tan and gray. The bandoleer that was strapped across his chest revealed the numerous shells of what appears as the rifle's ammunition, which was an old Japanese anti-tank rifle reminiscent during the second World War. He wore a placid expression on his face as he eyes each of the Titans, but his eyes tell a different story as Raven noticed; those were the eyes that have seen numerous deaths that he brought upon his targets.

"No… it can't be…" Robin stuttered once he managed to piece the puzzle together as he saw the same expression from someone he knew.

"It's been a long time, Robin." The sniper approached him and raised his hand to shake his.

"Umm, do we even know you, dude?" Beast Boy appeared at Robin's side, eyeing him cautiously.

"It's been five years, but you're still the same clueless and fun-loving Beast Boy." The sniper chucked as he pulled something out of the side pouch of his belt. He places it over his eyes, revealing his true identity.

"No way." Cyborg mumbled as his electronic brain begins searching for the exact profile of every registered Titan in the country.

"We thought you were gone. The Titans East have been looking for you for so long." Starfire spoke as she also approached him.

Good to see you again… Speedy" Raven mumbled.

"Thanks, Raven." Speedy grinned then removed the domino mask. "It's been awhile since everybody called me by my old name."

"So everyone calls you Roy Harper?" Robin asked.

"Not just. I'm part of the CBI special unit." Roy chuckled when several black vans and a truck with a trailer arrived on the scene. Several men in uniforms scrambled around the downed giant and began to take him away. One of the men approached Roy and exchanged a few words before being dismissed with a salute.

"Just call me Arsenal. Everyone in the CBI does." Arsenal flashed his cocky grin at them.

The group waked towards one van that is assigned to him and opened the back doors. Inside, it revealed a cache of weapons and ammunition as one driver helped carry the anti-tank rifle inside. Once it has been securely placed, Arsenal began selecting a pair of Beretta 93R 9mm handguns, a Steyr AUG automatic rifle, a Mauser SP66 sniping rifle, a few throwing daggers, and a FN P90 assault rifle. His bandoleer was exchanged with several clips specifically for the weapons he chose as the Titans were in awe once he boarded off the van wearing a long tan trench coat.

"I was hoping if I could stay in the Tower for a couple of days. It's been a rough week for me and I could sure use a vacation."

Robin raises his eyebrow a bit as he moves his eyes on the various weapons he was bringing with him.

"You're always welcome in the Tower, Arsenal, but something tells me you're not just here for a vacation. I mean, it looks like you have enough guns to start a war."

Arsenal looks at Robin in wonder as he checks his weapons before answering.

"You mean this?" He asks, pointing each weapon he has. "This is what I usually carry when I'm in my usual active duty plainclothes." He brings out his precious P90 as he loads the clip on top of the weapon and closes the breach shut to load a round in the chamber.

The Titans along with Arsenal returned to the Tower and once Robin contacted Titans East of Arsenal's visit, who also had a similar shocked expression on their faces, were due to arrive in a few hours except for Kid Flash who arrived in five minutes time. Once the Titans East arrived, Bumble Bee gave him the biggest hug she could muster as Aqualad, Jinx, and the twin speedsters Mas and Menos. It was the biggest welcome back party they held for their comrade as the Tower was slowly being thrashed with confetti, food and drinks, and much talk and laughter.

"It wasn't easy at first," Arsenal said as he was telling his friends about his first missions for the FBI, "having to, you know, kill a drug lord or some Mafia honcho can really be gut wrenching. I mean, having to have your target locked in your sniper scope wasn't easy and to think you decide to take him out by the head or heart. In fact, the first kill you will ever make is never easy to the point it'll burn in your mind for months to come."

"Wow, it's like you're licensed to kill or something." Beast Boy gaped at him in awe.

"It's not cool, BB, believe me." Arsenal grinned in a wistful way. "It's as if I could never go back in time to just arrest those people I've killed."

The mood inside the Tower dampens a bit as Arsenal took a sip of his punch.

The party ended at around two in the morning as the Titans East were invited to spend the night as they were all assigned to their rooms. Arsenal entered last in his room as he draped the bandoleer on a desk and stowed his weapons inside the closet and set the security code. He turned off the lights and lay on the bed and waited to fall asleep as he stared at the ceiling. For several moments, bits and pieces of images flashed across his eyes; grotesque bodies of those he slain seem to haunt him little by little, but there was one piece of memory that he could never relinquish despite of the number of missions he had accepted. It was the only way to occupy his mind from that memory.

* * *

Five years ago…

The deafening sounds of gunfire only added to the confusion as the occupants inside an abandoned warehouse could only fire their weapons aimlessly in the darkness. Speedy learned of a gang of drug traffickers in Steel City have been hiding here and it was his job to apprehend them, and this time he was not alone. Cheshire, the beautiful assassin, volunteered to help him in this mission, considering that their target happens to be one of the most dominant traffickers the city has ever had.

Speedy aimed his stun arrow at one of the henchmen, not knowing that there was another one with his submachine gun aimed at him. Before the gunner could open fire, he screams in pain as a _kunai_, a dagger-like throwing weapon, pierced his right shoulder much to Speedy's surprise before he fires his bow and taking out his intended target below once he was spotted. The injured gunner trained his gun at him once more, only to have Cheshire sweep his feet from behind. Stunned at having his feet taken out, Cheshire delivered a quick clothesline chop across the neck, slamming him hard on the concrete. As he groaned in pain, she pulls out another _kunai_ and was about to thrust the blade through his heart.

"Cheshire, no!" Speedy yelled.

Her arms halted to a stop, only piercing the gunner's clothes and a small red spot was slowly appearing around it. She cursed under her breath before kicking the gunner's head to knock him out. She turned her eyes toward him, though Speedy couldn't read the girl's expression, he knows that she was rather peeved from not taking the gunner out in the way she was trained to do. She leaps towards him and knelt in order to survey the area and to remain undetected.

"One of these days, your compassion will be your undoing." Cheshire spoke through her mask.

"Until that day comes, I will still not take lives. They still deserved to be put on trial despite of the horrible things they have done." Speedy mumbled as he pulled out two more stun arrows and took out the two other men below them. Cheshire could only stare at them as she pulled out some _senbon_, or metal needles, from her sleeves and prepares to fight the drug traffickers head on. Speedy noticed this as he held her arm back.

"They're not poisoned, are they?" Speedy asked as he eyed on her weapons rather suspiciously.

"Paralysis poison." Cheshire answered as she leaps out of her hiding place. Speedy could only grin as he joined her in the fight.

"There they are! Ice that punk and that little bitch!" The boss screamed as the henchmen fired at them. Speedy fires a flash arrow at the men with a blinding light as most of them were immobilized for a few seconds, leaving Cheshire to hurl her darts. One by one they were rendered unconscious as the poison immediately took effect. The gang leader slowly retreated at the back storage area along with a few guards, leaving the rest of his gang to stop the two from advancing closer. Shutting the door, the gang leader pressed his ears against it even though the sound of gunfire rang in his ear for half a minute until it stopped. Thinking that the two busy bodies are already dead, he ordered one of his guards to take a peak as he approached the door, only to find one of Speedy's arrows piercing through the door with a fast beeping sound. He makes a break for it, his gut instinct telling him that it is going to be messy. The moment he hid himself in a metal locker, the sound of explosion shook the floor and rattled him, followed by two screams and a flurry of punches and kicks.

As the smoke cleared, Speedy and Cheshire entered the room as they searched for the gang's ring leader. Since the rest of his gang is either paralyzed or stunned, they have more time to be alert as they checked their surroundings. An open door told speedy that he escaped to an open area, thus his chances on apprehending him were close to zero once he blends in with the crowd in the city.

"Cheshire, stay here until the police arrives." Speedy ordered as he tripped the fire alarm to alert the authorities. Cheshire could only nod as she watches him exit the room. The alarms inside the near empty warehouse seemed deafening as it echoed all over, not noticing a soft squeak of the metal hinges of the locker slowly opening. A gun was pointed at her as it slowly approached the girl as it was raised to knock the grip of the gun on her head. He steels himself, grinning in the most sadistic manner as he swings hard, only to hit nothing but air. He never had a moment to be shocked when he felt his arm break as he screamed, followed by a kick on both shins and slamming him on the ground. He grunted in pain as he forced himself to look up the ceiling when his eyes met the girl's ivory mask with a pair of _kunai_ on both hands ready to skewer him.

"Please, don't hurt me!" The ringleader whimpered as he kicked himself away from her until his back felt the wall.

Cheshire slowly approached the ringleader with her _kunai_ pointed towards him. His eyes widened as she threw the deadly projectiles, only to find its park on both sides just a touch away from his face. He could almost feel the sharpness of the blades as he shook.

"Be glad that I let my conscience be my guide, even without Speedy." She whispered audibly, but he could somehow feel the essence of death in her words. "However, the next time you taint this city with your poison, I would not be so forgiving."

The ringleader breathed a heavy sigh as she slowly relaxed her arms to her side. He kept both eyes on her, fearing that the slightest movement would trigger her to do something that would kill him. As soon as she appeared to be motionless, a sharp crack of breaking glass broke the silence. Cheshire managed to move away from the window, but didn't know what caused it until she felt something hot and piercing cutting slashing the skin of her right leg. A sniper's bullet came to a halt just a few inches away from the ringleader's arm as he took the chance to slide a gun from inside his left sleeve. Cheshire kneeled in front of the ringleader clutching her grazed leg as a shadow loomed over her. She looks up, her eyes staring at the hollow chamber of a .38 caliber revolver and a vicious grin etched on his face.

"Looks like your conscience is going to take you to hell. Say good night." The ringleader scoffed as he cocked the hammer and prepared to fire. In her mind, she thought of only one man who ever saved her, and hoping that he would do it again when she froze, followed by the sound of a sickening crunch of an arrow piercing through the ringleader's skull. There wasn't even time to feel the pain as he fell to his knees, desperately trying to find whatever hit him before falling face first in his own dead weight. She gasps as she saw the arrow that was protruding at the back of his skull, which was a broadhead arrow meant for piercing. Cheshire turns around to find the fiercest look her eyes have ever seen over his domino mask. He entered the room as Cheshire waited and felt two strong arms wrapped around her as she was lifted on her feet. The two left the warehouse together as the sirens were closing in. As the two walked, Cheshire observed Speedy and saw a mixture of shock and rage that seem to paint all over his face.

"Is this the first time to kill someone?" Cheshire whispered.

Speedy could only breathe out cold air, as he answered, "No. This was my second time to have killed someone tonight."

Cheshire nodded respectfully as she limped. She could barely remember the first time she felt when she took someone's life. But in her life as an assassin, sometimes it takes at least a dozen kills to get used to it. The first kill was always bad and that was a given: the second kill can always bring you nightmares until you need to kill again and hopefully it will become a part of you.

* * *

Arsenal blinked several times, wondering if he did sleep as he watched the golden rays of the sun trying to pass through the partition of the curtains. He recalled having to stare at the ceiling with his hands under his head, up to the point that he started recalling a memory he wished that never surfaced. He sighed as he got off the bed, strangely feeling refreshed as if he did sleep through the night. Already used to waking up at the crack of dawn, he drops down to the ground and begins to do his morning exercises starting with the usual fifty pushups, fifty squats and a whole lot of stretching. Managing to build up a good sweat he left the room to use the Tower's gym room to continue his workout. The halls are quiet, and doubts that anyone would be awake at this hour when the sound of the hydraulic doors slides open to reveal Raven already up and in her skin-tight leotard and cloak. She nods at him as Arsenal greeted her.

"I didn't expect you to be the early-rising type." Raven spoke dryly as she accompanied Arsenal through the halls.

"I've gotten used to it, I guess." Arsenal grinned a bit, trying to stifle a yawn that he merely squared his jaws shut. Too bad that Raven was a keen observer as she hums.

"Well, you're not exactly an old man, but try not to feel like one. You can always sleep in if you want since you're on vacation but try not to break Beast Boy's fifteen-hour-sleep-in record or you'll never hear the end of it." Raven also noticed the stubble that has brown overnight on Arsenal's face. "And you could probably use a shave as well."

"I got that." Arsenal chuckled as they reached the stairs and climbed down towards the common room. Once Raven showed him where the gym room is located, Arsenal watched as he saw Robin doing his morning rituals as he hammered on the punching bag with various martial arts moves. He made his presence known once he steps in as Robin stopped to acknowledge it.

"Morning," Robin greeted as Arsenal returned the greeting with a nod.

At least his exercise wouldn't be boring now that Robin's in the gym room.

"Well, now that you're here, wanna go for a sparring session?" Robin smirked as he flipped back towards the mat and formed a fighting stance.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice here." Arsenal smirked, recalling the time the two fought with each other on the Battle of Young Heroes several a few years ago. The two faced each other as dictated in the etiquette of the martial arts and bowed to each other. Taking their fighting stance, Robin and Arsenal circled around the room, each trying to size each other up and read each other's mind, wary about the increase of muscle tension or little movements that may give away his move to strike first. What may seem like hours, two minutes have passed as they stood to a halt once they circled around each other twice.

Robin took the initiative and lunged at Arsenal with a straight punch, testing to see how he would react before following up on a second move. Arsenal blocks the punch with his forearm, and allowed it to deflect the fist away until their deltoids touch. Taking a chance to grab Robin's arm, he throws a backhand punch across the face. Robin sees this as he ducked and delivered a sidekick straight at his ribs. Though he managed to graze it, leaving a bright red bruise, Arsenal took the defensive as he pivots his body to have his back at Robin and poised to throw him across the room. He knows he has a snowball's chance to actually make Robin fall to the matting face first, as he flew through the air in a somersault and landed on his feet. Robin turned to face his opponent with a huge grin on his face as well as Arsenal's.

It sure feels like old times during that tournament.

Cyborg entered the kitchen an hour after Raven and Arsenal woke up to prepare breakfast as he opened his big mouth to yawn when his ears caught the sound of furious fighting in the gym. As he opened the door to see who was sparring, his eyes widened in shock to find Robin and Arsenal, both bruised and bleeding as if they were fighting to the death. They were both breathing heavily through their mouths as Arsenal grunts with a cut on his upper lip and a large gash just shy away from his hairline bleeding profusely over the left eye. Robin wasn't fortunate enough to fight unscathed, as a blackening bruise was evident under the eye and his nose appeared to be a bit broken since the bridge looked slightly on an awkward position and blood poured out of it over his lips. This revelation proved to be too much for Cyborg as he stood frozen in his feet, failing to hear the sounds of the rest of the Titans and their visitors also approaching him from behind. Just about everyone took a peek, only to find the same shocked expressions from Cyborg.

"What the hell's goin' on here?" Bumble Bee yelled as they saw the two young men squaring off, and noticing the bruises and bleeding on both of them she'd think they were having a bar brawl.

"Please, somebody stop them or they will both be badly injured!" Starfire grabbed Cyborg by the arm as she watched the fight with her glazed eyes and appears to be in the brink of tears.

Cyborg snapped out of his stupor and slowly approached the mat to try and put an end to this 'sparring session' before one of them, or both, gets killed.

The two fighters appear to be totally oblivious of the other's presence as they fought; the only thing in their mind is to defeat their opponent. Robin was close to gasping since his nose is slightly broken and resolved to fix this by pressing his thumb on the side. Bracing himself, he pushes the bridge back in place with a pop as he grunts, but grins at Arsenal as he took his pose. Arsenal returns the gesture with his pose as the two charged. A quick roundhouse by Robin nearly took Arsenal's head off as he countered the move by ramming his shoulders at the exposed part of Robin's left leg. He yelps a bit and rolled on the mat to prevent a rough landing. He quickly follows up with a high jump, aiming towards Robin's chest in a drop kick. Calculating Arsenal's descent, Robin only returned the favor by catching his feet with his own, similar to the feat the Chinese acrobatic team would display, causing a reverse momentum and making him fly up in the air again. Arsenal failed to recover his shocked expression when he feels two strong arms across his waist and to see Robin smirking from behind as he maneuvered their descent in a deadly backdrop. Out of desperation, Arsenal delivers a backwards head butt over Robin's forehead, stunning him for a few moments until a very sharp jab on the right side of his ribs took out most of the air in his lungs. The two landed bonelessly on the ground in a spectacular crash. Robin grunts painfully as he held his injured ribs and felt it to be a bit tender, thinking that it might be broken while Arsenal could only hold his arm protectively in a similar manner.

A tooth for a tooth, yet neither opponent will secede as they staggered and each with their fists raised. It only stopped when two fists hit something really hard and followed by a loud metallic clang as Cyborg held the two by the shoulders.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Cyborg yelled at the top of his lungs and worried that these two are about to finish each other off.

Robin and Arsenal only glared at each other, the rage still burning within them as well as the desire to finish the fight. The rest of the Titans approached the two as Starfire took to Robin's side in the verge of tears as Bumble Bee took Arsenal's arm. Neither one of them was ready to drop their gaze until Arsenal grinned and slowly chuckled, causing Robin to mimic him. After a few seconds, it was a full-blown laughter as Cyborg ordered the two girls to take them to the medical bay.

Raven raised her hand over Arsenal's arm as she concentrates her power to mend the broken bone. Healing requires a great deal of holy energy that Raven can gather every time she chants the doctrines of Azarath despite of that fact that she was sired by Trigon the Terrible. Whispering her mantra audibly, the bluish light that glowed in the palm of her hand felt warm to the touch as Arsenal kept his eyes closed. After a few minutes she was done healing both men as she raised her hood above her head and despite that they cannot see her eyes that clearly, it was evident that she was exhausted.

"I hope that this should teach you a lesson." Raven lets out a small sigh as she staggered a bit. "I could only heal your external wounds, but I doubt I could do anything with this 'I got the biggest wiener' BS mentality that you two just displayed. Makes it hard to wonder if which 'head' are you using after all this idiocy."

"It was just a sparring session, Raven." Robin explained as she raised her hand to silence him.

"If you want to get injured, do so when you know it would be worth saving a life." With that Raven left the medical bay with Bumble Bee accompanying her to make sure she doesn't collapse. Once the two girls left the room, Cyborg placed his arm over the two men and scanned them for any other injuries she might have missed. Though she could heal a person completely, she could only do so much as he lists down the number of damages in their bodies longer than a grocery list. Once everything has been checked, Cyborg cleared them with the health bill as the two sat up on the medical bed as they donned their respective clothes.

Ever since the fight, Robin couldn't help but feel something peculiar about Roy Harper, now known as Arsenal. In some ways he could tell a great deal about a person by the way he fights; where each blow that he receives from an enemy can tell a tale of his past. The thirty-minute blood match somehow tells him TWO sides of the story, and how a young and energetic hero known as Speedy could turn to be a government hitman who can pull the trigger and watch his target die swiftly without remorse, almost to a point that he was at peace with himself with every person he kills in his own hands.

Once the two men have finished changing, Robin raised a question that he might consider as personal.

"What was it like?"

"What was it like what?"

"You know, to kill for the first time?"

Arsenal suppressed a glare at Robin, which he could almost tell the way his eyes seem to flash with burning anger. Arsenal took a deep breath as if to control himself as he walked towards the door. He opened the door midway before answering Robin's question.

"The first time I've killed someone is bad, and it never goes away. The second kill may bring you nightmares. The only way to live through it is to kill again…

"And again…

"And again… until you become the nightmare."

The door closes as Robin was left alone with the sound of the medical equipment, just enough time to contemplate on what Arsenal has just said.


	3. Chapter 02

Chapter 02

"Are you ready, Cyborg, Beast Boy?" Robin whispered in his communicator in the darkness as he risks a peek around the corner of the building.

"You bet I am" Cyborg replied.

"No sweat, dude." Beast Boy responded.

"Raven, are you in position?"

Some fifty feet in the air, Raven hovered over the building as she slowly begins to descent to the roof. The wind was fairly strong enough to flip her cloak all over the place.

"Two minutes until touchdown, Robin."

Robin severs the link as he steels himself to begin the operation. Just when he was about to move in, he halts when Arsenal radioed in.

"Robin, we have two grunts just about to show itself. Better wait for a minute or two until then."

"Arsenal, the more we wait the more innocents will be sacrificed." Robin responded as he sees the two men armed with submachine guns just appeared in the corner.

It was going to be the longest night of their lives when a small commercial complex fell victim to a gang of drug dealers who, strangely enough, seemed to be well-organized and equipped with high-caliber weapons. It was also the result of Starfire's injury when she was caught in the crossfire of a FN Minimi, a light machine gun as well as several sub-machine guns and automatic rifles as she patrolled the streets of Jump City. The result is a grazed shoulder and several bruises though the bullets did not kill her, it was more than enough to make her feel what it was like to be punched thousands of times by Cinderblock.

Arsenal knew that time was against them, as the gun-toting gang demanded a helicopter and a plane to get them out of the country in exchange for the hostages. Reaching into his cloak he loads a magazine inside a WA2000 rifle. The unusual design of a German bull pup weapon seemed to be nothing of the standard rifles seen today, but nevertheless, it was deemed as the ultimate sniper's rifle capable of taking out incoming enemy troops with seven hundred meters within range.

"Give me five seconds, Robin." Arsenal whispered as he trained his rifle and peered through the scope, setting his sights on the two incoming gang members. The ice on Robin's spine begins to climb and realizes that blood will be spilled if he doesn't act now as he leaps and hurls two flash discs, blinding the two men. The blinding flash has startled Arsenal that he pulled the trigger, delivering a deadly round of the .300 Winchester Magnum that pierced through the man's shoulder. In the confusion, Robin began delivering a flurry of punches and kicks to knock them out.

"What are you doing?" Robin shouted as he sets his sights on top of the building just across the street.

"Robin, we don't have much time to talk about human rights." Arsenal answered as he fastened a grappling cable and hurls himself off the building to land next to Robin. In a confrontational stare, Robin grabs the lapel of his cloak as he looks at Arsenal straight in the eye and glares at him.

"It doesn't take a bullet in the head to end crime, and despite of it, these criminals deserved to be put on trial." Robin growls.

Arsenal stares at Robin with equal intensity as he swats Robin's hands away from his cloak.

"You may not like the way I do things, but remember the fact that I came here to apprehend these thugs and save the people before they meet their ends."

"There will never be any killings in my city, and even if it takes me to put you behind bars, I will NOT hesitate to do so." Robin's spoke in a deadly whisper.

Before the two men engage themselves in another fistfight, the intensity between the two was broken when Raven called, saying that she has landed on top of the building,

"We'll settle this later." Robin spat.

Arsenal could only shake his head behind Robin's back as he followed him. Strapping the rifle back on his shoulder, he pulls out a pair of Glock 18Cs, handguns that carries a 32-round extended clip and can fire up to 1100 rounds-per-minute using 9mm Luger Parabellum hollow point rounds on a full automatic setting.

In other words, Arsenal was in near full combat mode and lives for his namesake.

Slinking around at the back of the building, Robin finds the door fortunately left opened, and enters in silence. They were in the emergency stairwell as Robin pressed the button on his communicator.

"Cyborg, we need your eyes, pronto."

In the front of the building was a detachment of police and SWAT waiting to storm the building at the moment's notice. Cyborg was among them, scanning the building with his electronic eye as his vision turns to a kind of sonogram where sound waves can be focused on a given direction and relayed back to project an image. He then switched to link to the building's many wireless security cameras, though most of them have been destroyed during the takeover, nevertheless it was still useful to see any scouts along the way.

"These guys sure know how to cover themselves. But my sonar and thermal scans detect some large activity, possibly the hostages on the fifth floor and a few scattered ones just a floor above and below them."

The officer in charge approached Cyborg as well as a negotiator with a phone in his hand and a grim look carving his face.

"Looks like the perps are getting on edge when they heard that two of their accomplices were downed. They will start killing off one hostage every five minutes if they do not leave the building in a helicopter."

Cyborg's eyes widened and nearly blanched as the thought of all those innocent people getting killed as he lifts his arm to contact Robin.

"We don't have much time, Robin. And I can't risk breaking in without them starting to shoot people." Cyborg spoke.

"Roger that." Robin answered and his eyes furrowed. He then turns to Arsenal with a grim look in his face. Despite of what he said to Arsenal about him taking lives, the only option left to save those people is to go for the alternative.

"Rules of engagement: kneecaps only." Robin's voice was as cold as ice.

"I'll try." Arsenal answered in a similar manner.

"Let's go," Robin shouted as the two men made a mad dash towards the fifth floor, "we have only less than five minutes before one hostage dies."

As they were nearing the fourth floor, Robin and Arsenal stood to a halt when the sound of gunfire erupted from above and dove out for cover. Arsenal immediately returns fire with his Glocks, sputtering a steady stream of bullets to confuse and hopefully intimidate the gunners. Immediately, Robin throws several smoke pellets, exploding in mid air just in front of the gunmen with a grayish smoke. At the same time, Arsenal dashed towards where the gunners were coughing and immediately knocks them out with fierce kicks on the head.

Robin soon follows up on Arsenal to the fifth floor, when two gunshots cracked in the air followed by screaming people. They immediately kicked the door open, finding a middle-aged man lying on the floor and next to him was a little girl kneeling next to him weeping. Gritting his teeth, Robin charges with a guttural yell, throwing two birdarangs towards the murderer and was instantly incapacitated. Arsenal pulls out a SPAS-12 combat shotgun from under his cloak as he begins to fire at the remaining gang with precise, rapid-fire succession.

The look of shock that painted Robin's face as he witnessed the gunmen being shot down with extreme prejudice as he kicks the shotgun away from Arsenal and spears him with his body. The two men wrestled each other in the ground, going for effective grappling techniques as well as several headbutts and jabs at the ribs.

"You killed them!" Robin yelled as he managed to roll Arsenal under him.

"Listen to me, Robin, they have killed someone today! Why can't you just get it into that thick-gelled skull of yours!" Arsenal shot back as he managed to plant his left foot on Robin's midsection to flip him over only for Robin to land on the floor hard. Robin immediately recovers as he pulls out several birdarangs while Arsenal did the same with his throwing daggers.

"Besides, those shells were loaded with bean bags." Arsenal smirked, much to the ire of Robin. He watched the downed gunners, who were slowly groaning in pain as they held their crotch.

"You never said anything about getting them in the balls with bean bags." Arsenal dropped his stance as he walks towards the frightened hostages. Robin grits his teeth and clenched his shaking fists as he watched Arsenal kneel down in front of the little girl. In a few seconds, the police, followed by Cyborg and Beast Boy, who didn't have a chance to initiate his orders, started to occupy the room.

It was a sad day when one desperate ploy of criminals took the life of one innocent man and his daughter as the rest of the freed hostages were escorted out of the building, among those were the downed thugs including the ones that Raven managed to capture on the sixth floor. Cyborg and Robin monitored the evacuation of the hostages at the same time Arsenal was carrying the little girl towards them.

"Who's she?" Cyborg asked as he eyed the sleeping child.

"Dunno, but according to some of the hostages, she and her uncle came here as tourists from Hong Kong." Arsenal replied. "Looks like the Chinese embassy is going to have a field day once word of one of their own was killed. I've already arranged CBI to take her to Social Services before surrendering her to the embassy."

"This is the worse thing that can happen to a child and would probably be scarred for life." Robin's mask narrow into thin slits towards one direction that was now a chalk outline.

The little girl began to stir in Arsenal arms as she gingerly opens her eyes. Arsenal noticed that the girl's eyes were almost exactly like his with a hint of jade while maintaining her black hair, an Asian girl's pride. It may somehow appear unusual for an Asian child, but this color somewhat reminded Arsenal of one memory he wish to forget.

The little girl began to speak, unfortunately in Chinese Mandarin that none can understand. But a little later, she surprised everyone as she spoke in English.

"Where is uncle?" the little girl spoke.

Robin looked at Raven for support, though she could only lower her eyes to the floor. Arsenal seemed to lose his voice, as he mustered the courage to answer the child.

"What's your name?" Arsenal asked as he set the little girl on the table.

"Lian."

"That's a pretty name." Arsenal smiled as he grazed his finger on the child's chin. "And how old are you?"

"_San_." Lian answered in Chinese.

"Son?" Robin raised his left eyebrow in confusion.

Lian raised her hand and showed three little fingers at Arsenal.

"Three years old. That's sweet." Arsenal grinned.

"Where is uncle?" Lian asked in the brink of tears.

Arsenal could only sigh as he held Lian by the arms and prepared to answer her.

"I'm afraid that your uncle is gone now and he could no longer return."

Lian seemed to understand, somehow thinking that the bright flash and the thunderous blow from the gun was nothing but a nightmare as a steady stream of tears began to flow freely from her eyes. Arsenal picked up the child and hugged her as she wailed, calling out something in Chinese, probably her uncle's name.

"Let's go, Arsenal." Robin said as he guided him out of the building.

The team returned to the tower some two hours later after the debriefing with the police chief. The little girl Lian in Arsenal's arms was among them, now in a fitful sleep. After setting her on the bed inside his room, Arsenal took a moment to observe her, somehow having this strange feeling that he had seen her somewhere before and an even stranger connection. But he shook his head, shaking out such feelings as he quietly left the room to join his friends.

Robin was at the monitoring room, talking to a representative of the Chinese embassy in a live videoconference from Jump City. The woman, Annie Hung, is the Chinese ambassador's secretary and aide.

"Mr. Lau wishes to congratulate you for your efforts to at least save the child from a certain death, but however, would like to demand a full investigation on how those two came to being."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"As you know, it is standard protocol that we are given a list of any Chinese nationals entering the city to keep an eye on them and for assistance. Somehow, the tourists named Quan Zidong and Lian Nguyen were not on our list."

Arsenal froze a bit, when he heard the girl's last name for the very first time. It was too much of a coincidence, he thought, as his head was beginning to spin.

"What do you mean they were not on your list?" Robin asked. "Surely they couldn't be just illegal immigrants that managed to get into the country."

"Perhaps, but the fact remained that the identification and passports recovered by your police gave credence that only the girl is not from China. In fact, they are not even blood relatives as Mr. Zidong's family was living in the northern provinces of Sichuan, who later moved to Hong Kong."

"So where does Lian fit into all this?" Arsenal asked rather hotly at the aide. Robin casts a warning look at Arsenal to keep his cool.

"As far as I am aware of, the girl's papers and passport may appear genuine, but the stamps and VISA identification numbers have been forged. Regrettably, it is for the US government to decide her fate, as there is no way to locate her family anywhere after making several inquiries in the whole ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) and Japanese governments."

Robin stood silently in front of the woman on the screen as he thought about the whole situation. After two minutes of silence, Robin thanked Ms. Hung and severed the communication line between them.

"Well, that's that I guess." Cyborg said deadpanned.

"Total bummer, dude." Beast Boy added.

Arsenal stepped in as he punched several commands on the communication console and waited for a link to be established. In a few moments, the familiar insignia of the CBI appeared followed by a middle-aged man in a suit. Despite his looks that gives him an appearance of someone in his early fifties, his body tells otherwise that he, in fact, keeps himself in shape. A metallic left hand brushed against his graying locks, as he was surprised to find a group of young people on the screen.

"Roy? Is that you?"

"Hey, Sarge." Arsenal smiled a bit. "Got news for me?"

Sarge's appearance looked somber for a few moments before replying.

"I'm sorry about the girl, though, it's a shame she has to go all that just because a couple of worthless thugs wanted to get away from it all." He spoke gruffly. "Nevertheless, it's going to be soon before Social Services would take custody of her until they could find her a home in Jump City."

"Sure thing." Arsenal furrowed his eyebrows at the thought of it. Though he has no doubts about Social Service's performance record, a mingling pain in his chest begins to spread all over his body at the thought of the child's fate as she became an unwitting citizen of the United States, away from the familiar home where she came from and a memory that would never go away.

Robin took this silence to introduce himself as well as the team.

"I've heard a lot about you, Sarge Steel. My name is Robin of the Titans."

"Glad to meet you," Sarge broke to a smile.

"Likewise, and here are the other members of the team."

Everyone introduced themselves to Sarge, with Cyborg being last as Sarge gave a thoughtful eye on him, somehow who knew something about him, especially when it concerns his parents who are STAR scientists.

"By the way, Sarge," Arsenal spoke after the introductions. After taking time to think about what he was about to propose, he decided that now is as good a time as any. "Is it possible to, well, adopt Lian?"

Everyone in the room, including Sarge appeared in the brink of suspended animation, as well as shock towards Arsenal's proposal.

Sarge raised his hand to rub his left temple as he sighed. "I don't know, Roy, it's kinda complicated at this point to take a foreign child in considering that we don't know where she came from. Social Services would probably go into a fit if they found out a child is hanging with a bunch of superheroes, fighting… You get the idea."

"I do get the idea, Sarge," Arsenal replied in a seemingly cold voice, "and I know what it feels like to be orphaned as well."

Robin understood what Arsenal meant, as he looked briefly into his past as well. It was, in fact, a mutual feeling in every member of the team. Sarge retained his composure as he looked into the eyes of everyone in view as he gave out an exasperated sigh.

"I can't promise you anything, but I'll try to pull some strings and see if we could make it work."

Arsenal nodded and gave a thankful gaze at Sarge. He nodded in return before signing off.

Just then, a picture-in-picture feed within the Tower appeared, showing a little girl wandering around the hallway calling out to anyone.

"Looks like she's awake." Robin said as the rest of the team left the room to meet her.

Two days later, a representative from Social Services arrived as the team gathered together along with Lian to meet her. She was a sweet-looking woman in her thirties wearing conservative attire as she introduced herself as Mrs. Jessica Potts. After a couple of minutes talking to the girl, who surprisingly can speak English as if it was her first language, she focused her attention to Arsenal and addressed him as Roy Harper.

"Mr. Harper," Mrs. Potts began, "as you well know that taking care of a three-year-old is no easy feat, but given the circumstances, it seems that you made our work a bit easier now that you volunteered to adopt Lian."

"It was neither guilt or a sense of responsibility that made me decide on this, but rather," Arsenal's thoughts were interrupted as Lian giggled at the sight of Best Boy's antics as a dog and licked her face that caused her to giggle some more. He chucked a bit before continuing, "but rather, there is something about that child that seemed strangely familiar and I thought it would be nice to have her with me."

Mrs. Potts smiled at this as she dug into her briefcase and pulled out the necessary paperwork for him to fill in. Then she also passed Lian's suitcase containing her clothes and other personal belongings she brought with her. After a few minutes of filling in answers and signing, Mrs. Potts shook Arsenal's hand, as she called on Lian and picked her up to sit on her lap.

"Well, Lian, I guess that this nice young man is going to take care of you now." Mrs. Potts smiled at Lian.

"Okay." Lian nodded her head as she jumped off and immediately climbed on top of Arsenal's legs. He hesitated for a moment as he picked her up and had her sit on his lap.

"Oh, and by the way," Mrs. Potts said before concluding this meeting, "I suggest that you keep all your weapons out of her reach. We don't want to cause any accidents or anything of the sort." She then eyed on the exposed Glock on his shoulder holster.

"I'll remember that." Arsenal smiled as he picked up Lian and stood up to shake Mrs. Potts' hand. The team escorted her to the harbor to board the ship back to the mainland and bid her farewell.

"Well," Cyborg sighed, "you finally got your wish. So you think she'd change her name to Harper or something?"

"Guess so," Arsenal answered as he looked at Lian.

"You know that taking care of a child is a lot of responsibility." Raven reminded.

"Well, if you've been friends with Mas and Menos, I guess it'll be a start." Arsenal smirked.

Just then, Starfire descended from above to meet her friends, as well as an unfamiliar face of Lian.

"Arsenal," Starfire began as she closes in on Lian while shying away by pressing her face on Arsenal's left shoulder, "whose child does she belong to?"

"Well," Arsenal wavered a bit, "actually she is mine now."

Starfire seemed to think about this for a full five seconds before squealing with delight as she shook Arsenal's hand.

"You have married and have a child! How come you never have told us of this great news?"

"Umm… not exactly that way, Star." Robin explained. "Lian has been adopted by Arsenal to be his daughter."

"Adopted? I see…" Starfire nodded thoughtfully. "So I assume that Arsenal will be Lian's _knorfka_?

"_Knorfka_?" Arsenal whispered to Cyborg.

"I'll explain later." Cyborg whispered back.

The team returned to the Tower as Arsenal checked back in to his room, carrying Lian's little suitcase in order to start unpacking.

"Well, in a few days I will be taking you to your new home with me back in Washington." Arsenal said to the three-year-old as he started unpacking her things to an available bureau. Pulling out a few things from the case include some clothes, a little doll, which Lian was reaching out for as he handed it to her with a smile, and finally a small box of Chinese origin. He slightly shook the contents of the box, and a few things rattled as if it was bouncing off glass. He peered inside it, to find a few cheap trinkets, a gold ring with a piece of Jade on it that seemed too big for a three-year-old toddler's fingers, and finally something wrapped in a silk kerchief. He slowly unwrap the object in question, to reveal the fine gloss of glass of a picture frame. Under the light of the sun outside his window, his hands trembled and he could feel his heart climb to his throat to reveal something extraordinary. The metal door slid open to revel Robin and the rest of the team entering his room to help out, only to find Arsenal frozen in shock and in a few moments, tears slowly begin to form in his eyes as he slowly looked at the child playing on his bed.

Robin took notice as he approached Arsenal still holding the picture.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked.

"Oh my God," Arsenal whispered to himself and seemed to be in the very depth of his inner world of conflict and pain. The picture slid out of his hands, just in time for Robin to catch it in mid-drop as he and the rest gathered to take a look at what the picture showed. It was a picture of a beautiful Asian woman with Lian on her lap and sitting on a chair for the camera, which seems to be a photo of over a year ago.

"Wow, Lian's mom sure is pretty." Cyborg whistled.

"I second that." Beast Boy added."

Robin handed the picture to Cyborg's metallic hand as he approached Arsenal, who was staggering a bit towards the bed before falling on his knees. Lian took notice of this as she watched him rather curiously. Reaching out, Arsenal placed a gloved hand over her cheek as he caressed it lovingly. Then he took Lian in his arms and hugged her, slowly sobbing and his shoulders trembling.

"Oh my God," Arsenal sniffed, "I can't believe it. Why, why…"

"Arsenal, what's wrong?" Robin asked, rather worried about the state of sorrow that Arsenal was in.

Arsenal slowly faced Robin with tears in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he sat down on the edge of the bed with Lian still in his arms.

"That woman in the picture. I know her." Arsenal said.

"And?" Raven urged on.

"Her name is Jade Nguyen. Lian is Jade's daughter."

"And how did you know that?" Starfire asked.

"Because…" Arsenal sighed to keep his composure. "Lian is also my daughter. Jade is the mother of my child."


	4. Chapter 03

Chapter 03

Paris, four years ago…

Paris at nighttime was considered one of the most breathtaking sights that anyone could appreciate, more so if it was on top of the Eiffel Tower observation deck. There were mostly couples sitting at the tables sipping wine and chatting like most couples do, waiters milling about taking away the empty glasses or bringing fresh bottles of Chardonnay and glasses to the patrons. At one table, Roy Harper and Jade Nguyen sat there, taking in the sights where they could almost make out the _Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel_ as well as the east wing of _The Louvre_ as they enjoyed the view in companionable silence. Music from the small wet bar filled the empty space in the air as their patrons enjoyed their partner's company.

For several months, the two were often involved in missions, whereas Cheshire would be close behind as a shadow ally from time to time, and once the mission is over, they would either tour the city and have a few nights of passion. Their most recent mission was fairly an easy one and didn't took more than half a day to finish as they agreed to meet at the observation deck of the Tower.

"Glad you could make it." Roy smiled, and as always showed up in his civilian attire as well as Jade in a beautiful dress. Roy took their order, though Jade insisted on having tea at this moment as they waited patiently for their orders to arrive.

"My pleasure." Jade smiled.

"You know, it seems funny when we first met that we nearly killed each other." Roy drew a contemplative sigh. "Now look at us, I mean, we're practically dating."

"I see what you mean," Jade giggled, "but honestly, I wouldn't have done this with anyone else." Then she reached down to hold his hand and laced her fingers with his. "You have made me very happy for the first time and I do thank you."

The strange and indescribable glow of warmth was slowly filling Roy Harper's chest as he tightened his grip on Jade's petite hands. A familiar gaze slowly draw the two close together until their lips touched, feeling the wetness and warmth of mingling tongues exploring each other. Resting their foreheads at each other, Roy thought it would be the best time to consummate this union between Jade.

"I have to tell you something, Jade," Roy began as he looked in her eyes tenderly, "I want to make this work between us, I mean, we are meant for each other."

Jade's eyes slowly widened a bit upon hearing those words. Even though it was too good to be true, there was a certain level of doubt that still resides in her heart as she answered "I honestly want to believe that. I want to be with you for as long as I live."

Roy's heart was hammering like crazy when he heard those words from her. Reaching down on his pants pocket, he digs his hands inside to pull out a small velvet box as he waited for a perfect opportunity.

"But," Jade suddenly said that caused Roy to stop breathing, "this may be the last time we will see each other."

As if a thunderbolt struck down on the fragile recesses of his mind and heart, Roy Harper suddenly found himself forgetting to breathe as his facial color was slowly being drained of his blood.

"Why, Jade," Roy was now on the verge of desperation, "please tell me."

Jade could only watch the slow transformation of the man she fell in love with to be in this state of distress as she felt her eyes slowly being filled with unshed tears. What may seem like hours, only five minutes of tormented silence filled the gap between the two as Roy tightened his grip on Jade's hand ever so slightly to get an answer from her.

Just when she was about to answer, the waiter approached their table and instead of bringing their drinks, he was carrying a message to Roy.

"_Excusez-moi, monsieur_," the waiter interrupted "you have an urgent telephone call from the _Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire_ and requesting you to answer _si vous satisferiez_.

Roy was glaring at the poor waiter and cursing himself on why he took to help the DCPJ, or the French Judicial Police with regards to a meta-human attack on a retired French politician a few days ago. He then shifts his attention on Jade, who seemingly was starting to look and feel sick, as her face was a bit pale. He also noticed that she was throwing up in the bathroom some weeks ago, thinking that she might have an allergy on something when they ate in a quaint French restaurant some two days earlier.

"You okay?" Roy asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm sorry," Jade whispered audibly, "I just don't feel well right now. I could actually use a rest back in the hotel."

"Of course, Jade," Roy smiled, "we'll discuss about this later, but for now I have to take this call."

Roy kissed Jade on the lips tenderly as he stood up and followed the waiter to the phone. As she watched, the dam broke and the tears fell freely over her face as she watched Roy disappear around the corner. After some ten minutes, Roy emerged from the corner and back to his table, only to find Jade missing, all except an envelope with a single rose on top of it, and the familiar pain of a broken heart.

It was the last time he had seen her since.

"So she was about two or three months pregnant with Lian during that time." Arsenal thought to himself when he noticed the seeping rays of light from the curtains. Clearly a month had passed after adopting, or more like being reunited with a daughter he never knew and his transition to fatherhood felt so normal to him the moment he realized that he was looking at Lian, the living proof of his undying love with Jade. He kept having those dreams every so now and then, and strangely he didn't feel like he slept at all like the time he visited the Titans West Tower after nearly five years in absence.

Jump City law requires that any child adopted within the State should remain for of at least three months before returning with Lian to his current place of residency. He didn't mind, though, knowing that his apartment in Washington is well taken care of by the CBI. The days were spent for father and daughter to get acquainted, taking her to the park and other attractions and soon she was starting to call her daddy. Somehow, Lian felt that she has found her father in this big world, knowing that the memory of her uncle was slowly fading from her mind and thoughts of her father are being replaced.

He sits up in bed, finding that his left side is empty as he searched around. Probably she's at the common room watching cartoons or something were his thoughts as he threw in a T-shirt and a pair of pants. Upon arriving at the common room, he finds Lian sitting on Starfire's lap along with Beast Boy as the three were watching the Saturday morning cartoons followed with bursts of laughter. Cyborg was whipping up breakfast for his teammates while Robin sat on the stool reading the paper. No Raven, though, probably still in her room meditating before coming down for breakfast. He made his presence known as he cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone, including the three-year-old as she jumped off Starfire's lap and ran towards her father.

"Daddy!" Lian giggled as she raised her arms to be picked up. Arsenal broke to a huge grin upon the sight of his bubbly daughter as he scooped her up and began blowing raspberries on the tot's belly while she squealed at the top of her lungs in laughter. Then he carried her on his hip and towards the kitchen area to have some breakfast.

"Morning, Arsenal," Cyborg greeted and reached for an affectionate tickle on Lian's chin, which she playfully tried to swat away "and you too, baby girl!"

"Morning Cyborg, Robin," Arsenal returned the greeting as he sat his daughter down on the high chair.

"So what's for breakfast?" Arsenal asked, though the smell of cooked food seem to appeal to his appetite as his stomach growled in anticipation.

"Waffles, bacon, eggs, potato omelets, and hash browns." Cyborg answered as he set the food in front of Arsenal, followed by a single piece of waffle topped with maple syrup and butter for Lian since it was probably more than enough for her. Starfire flew towards the kitchen bar as well in order to help feed Lian.

"A morning of goodness to you, Arsenal!" Starfire's unfaltering cheerfulness can almost be felt as she begins to cut up the waffle to feed to Lian. Since Lian's stay, Starfire was honored to be Lian's _knorfka_, somehow seemed to be more of a glorified term for babysitter. Regardless, Starfire had made a personal oath to protect her _bumgorf_ from danger as she cherished Lian as if she were her own daughter.

"Good morning, too." Arsenal smiled as he watched Starfire offer the food to Lian, in which she took it with gusto.

Ever since having Lian in Arsenal's, as well as everyone in the tower's lives, a warm kind of feeling can almost be felt and in no way the same like Starfire's. Things were lighter, nothing seemed to go wrong and even Raven lets up a little and would sometime see her smile whenever Lian is around to sit on her lap. Of course it wouldn't last forever as Arsenal would soon return to his apartment with Lian, but for now they enjoy the moment as long as they are here.

Of course the usual criminals never have the decency to even respect their peaceful lives as the klaxons blared, in which Lian was already getting used to.

"Titans, trouble!" Robin called as everyone gathered towards the main threat monitor except Starfire who was still feeding Lian. As they arrived, Robin froze to find the image of a too familiar person who he has sworn to bring down to justice one day.

"Ah, Titans, I hope to greet you for this beautiful morning."

An audible growl came from Robin as he called out his name, "Slade."

"Yes, Robin, full marks for you, and…" Slade's left eye moved towards Arsenal. "A new face, it seems, yet someone I know quite well."

"What do you want, Slade?" Arsenal snapped at him with equal hatred.

"Straight to the point, it seems, very well. This one concerns the three nuclear warheads that have gone missing some two weeks ago. And I know that you, Arsenal, have been investigating it as well?"

Robin shifts his eyes towards Arsenal, who only kept a grim expression since Robin have never heard of any theft on nuclear weapons.

"So you're planning to hold a city or two in ransom until the president gives in to your demands?" Robin growled.

"Perish the thought, Robin." Slade's eye narrowed in spite. "I can be a very generous man from time to time so I thought of throwing one warhead away for free. In fact, you may want to watch the news channel for an interesting topic today, and I promise you that it would be a blast."

Everyone's eyes widened in horror about the hidden meaning of his words as Robin grabbed the remote and zeroed in on the international news network. The news anchorman stared at the camera with a sad look in his face as he delivered the terrifying news to the world.

"Just moments ago, the entire Middle Eastern nation began praying for the loss of thousands of souls as well as its neighboring countries all the way from the European Union as a nuclear explosion destroyed a small mining village in the Middle East. The nuclear disaster team from the UN has determined the cause and will soon report its findings on where the uranium came from, so far all inquiries have been put on hold until further notice. INN wishes to extend its heartfelt condolences for those who perished in the…"

Robin could almost feel the remote control being crushed in his hands as he glared at Slade with pure hatred.

"Just a little preview of things to come." Slade said with a mocking kind of chuckle.

"What are your demands?" Robin asked.

"My demands are simple: if you do not wish for this city to go through the same fate as that small mining community, you will declare me as the absolute ruler. And you do not attempt to stop me, unless you want to find a nuclear warhead inside someone's garage, waiting to explode at any given moment.

"But of course, there is no fun if the prey would just lie down obediently for the predator to pick on. So I will give you your one and only clue."

"And what would that be?" Robin growled.

Slade's eye narrowed even crueler as he points at Arsenal.

"Ask him." The communication link between Slade and the Titans was cut.

Arsenal stood in shock as the rest of the Titans stare at him as if he was an accomplice.


	5. Chapter 04

Chapter 04

"I don't know what he's talking about, Robin. Believe me." Arsenal plainly stated.

Robin seemed to bore into Arsenal's mind for a few moments, but all this was too radical even for him. Why would Slade choose Arsenal when he never fought him as long as he had? Still, either there must be something missing, or even connected to this whole crisis and maybe Arsenal may hold the key to this.

Despite of the imminent threat, Arsenal pulled out his cellular phone and dialed a secure line to CBI and directly to Sarge's desk. While Arsenal stepped away from the group to talk to his superior, Robin couldn't help but feel helpless for the first time in his life, somehow, all hopes of saving a city, maybe including their own is but naught and Arsenal now plays an unwitting piece of the puzzle which has no purpose… yet.

"Okay, thanks Sarge." Arsenal disconnects the line to his superior as he faced the Titans. "For now, Sarge is going to contact the President and report what is happening so expect some drastic changes happening in the next few days. In the meantime, we have to kick this investigation into high gear in hopes on recovering the warheads."

"But how are we gonna do that?" Beast Boy asked.

Arsenal sets his sights to Robin, hoping to know what he was thinking. Walking towards the communication panel, Robin entered the proper code sequence and a small button begins to flash at the center. Lifting the protective lid, Robin pressed the button, initiating the coded transmission that spreads towards the entire globe.

"When there's trouble, you know who to call."

* * *

Three hours have passed as Robin and the rest of the Titans gathered at the meeting room. Surrounded by several large monitors surrounding the room showing various picture-in-picture video feeds of the Titans all over the world. Among them, The Titans East followed by Jinx and Kid Flash appeared at their front door as well as a member of the Wildebeest Society, mainly Wildebeest. Much to their shock, even some of the lesser-known villains like The Mad Mod and Mumbo and the members of the HIVE 5 like Gizmo, who was almost dubbed as an almost honorary Titan, Mammoth, Billy Numerous, Kydd Wykkyd, and See-More. They expressed their desire to help despite of the crimes they have committed, but never in their lives to wish for the death and destruction of their city and its people, or any city whatsoever so stood a temporary peace treaty between the Titans.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make," Robin began the meeting as the entire congregation paid attention. "Ever since news of a stolen nuclear warhead destroyed a small mining town in the Middle East, Slade will soon begin his operation to take over the country, and possibly even the entire world if we let this pass by. What I ask of you is simple, is to help us stop this menace from threatening the entire world as we know it. I call upon this meeting to help investigate anything of the unusual, and if it's anything less than what Slade is after, then by all means go and stop them. He is one man who, time and again, has committed unspeakable crimes and it is our job to put a stop to this.

"As leader of the Titans, I ask you all to stand vigilant against Slade, and to never forget that we are all gifted with the power, the knowledge, and the strength to face such odds. Together, we can stop him from fulfilling his nefarious plan for world destruction."

Every Titan in the planet cheered for Robin as the contingency plan took place.

* * *

"This should do it." Gizmo cackled rather wickedly as he showed Robin his latest invention after working with it for a little over thirty minutes.

"Time to test this baby." Cyborg said as he contacted Red Star deep in the heart of Chernobyl, who was waiting for the go signal. Red Star began charging his body with deadly radioactive energy in the smallest possible amount and within seconds, Gizmo's device has detected the nuclear signature from halfway around the globe.

"She's purring like a kitten. I tell you, this kid's gonna make headlines if only he was on the good side of the law." Cyborg gushed as he pats on Gizmo's head. Gizmo shrugged it off as he hovered over Cyborg with a rather nasty glare shooting at him.

"Pssh! Like I'd join one of the good guys you ironclad paramecium brain." Gizmo grunts "Besides, where's the fun on wreaking havoc if there are no lower-than-fifty-IQ people left in it?"

"Well, maybe if you had a little attitude adjustment, you'd see things our way ya little midget." Cyborg shot back.

"Oh yeah? What about I'd adjust that screw-loose, snot-for-brain of yours, huh?" Electric sparks began to shoot off between Gizmo and Cyborg as they prepared themselves for a confrontation. Robin steps in between them and gave them a warning look.

"This is serious, guys. There are practically millions of lives at stake here so I suggest that we all work together." Robin spoke in his ice-cold tone.

Cyborg and Gizmo looked at each other for a minute before turning away with a huff.

"Anyway, how's the new uranium detector?" Robin asked.

"Piece of cake, bird brain." Gizmo puffed his chest out. "If you let me make something a lot 'harder' than this, I'd even complement you."

"Good work." Robin said as he picked up his communicator. "Start mass producing that detector as many as you can."

"Robin, come in. Kole here." Kole's voice came through the communicator as Robin answered, "Report."

Deep in the North Pole, Kole and Gnarkk surveyed the area for any unusual activity. "Nothing unusual at this point. Seems that my idea of Slade nuking the polar icecaps wasn't part of the plan."

"Good work, just report anything unusual just incase." Robin commended when another call came, this time from See-More.

"Nothing that my all-seeing eye picked up anything unusual." See-More hovered some one hundred feet in the air as his huge floating eyeball scanned the city streets for anything that seemed out of place and switching to his x-ray and thermal vision from time to time.

"Keep up the good work. Report to me if you find anything even remotely unusual."

Robin drew a long sigh. For the past sixteen hours, he has organized nearly dozens of Titans placed all over the world for any signs of Slade or the missing warheads and it was draining him of his strength. Sitting down, Robin punched a few commands on the computer and the monitors displayed the world map, where each individual area were marked green, signifying it as safe zones.

Robin has been working nearly non-stop and the fact that he has barely eaten only made Starfire worry about his health as she brought a platter of sandwiches for him to eat. Placing it on the small table next to him, she watched as Robin calculated every feasible scenario in his mind, as well as the aftermath if all else fails. It was hard to imagine that Slade nearly succeeded the first time around when Terra betrayed the team. This time, he might succeed completely.

"Robin," Starfire called, "you have been working for more than sixteen hours. Your body needs rest and nourishment"

"I'll eat soon, Star." Robin answered flatly.

"But you must!" Starfire pleaded. "Surely our friends are out there to help the best as they can. You must trust them to do their assigned tasks."

"I will not stand by and let Slade do whatever he wants, Star." Robin banged his fist on the console. "He may have all the cards, but I will not call his bluff."

Somehow, it seems it was starting all over again; Robin's relentless obsession to take down Slade has fueled the rage that was slowly creeping inside of him. In some retrospect, history itself is a great teacher and at the same time Robin was probing himself to be a bad student even during the time Slade made Robin his apprentice.

The memory of Robin being played in the hands of Slade was too much to bear, remembering the few confrontations where he first masquerades as the malicious thief Red X in order to try trapping Slade. More so when he dons the armor of Slade and was forced to pledge his allegiance, nearly costing his life as well as theirs. Though they did managed to pull through in the end, for the first time, Starfire felt that all hope was beginning to dim before her very eyes as well as the man who she harbored deep feelings for. She watches as the tears begin to wash over her eyes like the coming of the tides over the footprints in the sand. A few years ago, her arms would have easily wrapped around Robin's slim but wiry frame and rested her chin over his shoulders. All she could do now is bury her face on his muscular back and sobs as her hands barely reached across his broad chest as Robin stood silently when he felt the slender arms of Starfire. Robin sighed, completely getting the message as he sets his eye over the plate and took the sandwich. It took him three bites to consume the piece of food before washing it over with milk as he held Starfire's arm in his hands.

"Cyborg," Robin called, "you're in charge for now."

"I'll take it from here, man." Cyborg acknowledged. "Just go and rest up. We're going to need all the strength we need."

Robin slowly pulled Starfire's slender arms off of him as he turned to face her. Eyes filled with overflowing tears, Robin smirked a bit as he wiped them off with his thumbs. Taking the plate off the table he smiled at Starfire.

"Good night, Starfire. And thanks for the food." Robin spoke before retreating to his room.

* * *

There was a huge difference between patrolling and tracking when one is in Arsenal's shoes, and sadly it was neither. Without so much as a plan or clue at hand, Arsenal resorted to the least possible tool in his disposal; and glumly he never so much believed in luck or fate to begin with.

CBI's information network was among the most efficient in the country that rivaled even the Secret Service or the NSA. But involvement would sure break the _TITLE 6 CHAPTER 1 SUBCHAPTER VIII Part H Sec. 466_, or simply known as the _Posse Comitatus Act_ and Congress would have a fit if widespread panic is being controlled with the military involved. But in Arsenal's experience, he smirked inwardly how Congress would react if the Congressional House has a warhead in there. To him, chickens running with their heads chopped off were really entertaining enough, and more so with those old dinosaurs.

His communicator began beeping as Arsenal pulls it out of his jacket pocket to find Cyborg in view.

"How're you doin' out there, man?" Cyborg greeted.

"Just fine here." Arsenal replied tersely.

"I'm calling to say that I'll be holding the fort while Robin catches some Z's." Cyborg pauses a bit before continuing rather sheepishly. "So… what's up?"

Arsenal chuckled a bit on Cyborg's lack of a broader insight. Yet he could only feel ironic about it.

"Dunno, Cy, thought something might come up while I'm out here. How about you, any leads?" Arsenal answered.

"I leave all the detective stuff with you and Robin. Man, despite of my one-hundred-gigabyte processors running half my brain and my 170 plus IQ running the other half, I hope to come up with an idea of where Slade might strike next. All I could come off with is one big fat zero bigger than the Angus steaks I eat here."

"Hey, it ain't exactly like rocket science." Arsenal assured. "There's a fine line between using the info that you are currently gathering from the info I had previously. Even Sherlock would be stumped if he doesn't have something to work with.

Some one hundred yards from where he was standing, Arsenal could have sworn he saw something zip past by the shadows in the city's industrial sector as Arsenal's sixth sense begins to flare.

"Cyborg, looks like I saw something at the industrial sector. I may need some backup just in case."

"No prob, man. I'll have The Herald teleport some of the Titans at your location." Cyborg replied as The Herald walked right behind Cyborg."

"Put them on stand by." Arsenal ordered. 'I want to check this out first before calling for backup."

"Will do." Cyborg replied before Arsenal severs the connection between them.

Arsenal fires a grappling gun towards one of the buildings as he begins prepares his equipment to rappel. Once the rope has been secured on both ends, he straps the rappelling tool to his wrists, protecting his hands from the heat of friction while sliding down towards the desired point. It took nearly a minute and one hell of an adrenaline rush to reach his destination as he jumps off and landed in a clear-lit area of towering warehouses. Somehow, security was rather light as Arsenal surveyed the area for anything unusual. Pulling out a pair of digital thermal glasses, he scanned the area for any heat signatures, though it did not help detecting several heat signatures, he was mainly concerned about those signatures that moves. For thirty minutes he walked nearly half the grounds when he spotted a group of figures converged in one building. Thinking that they might be warehouse personnel, he moved on when he finds one that seems to skulk around the corner. In the next few seconds it turned away to an isolated area away from them.

Bingo.

Prepping his weapon, an _M16 A1E1 _with an attached silencer and a flashlight attached just below the barrel, he loads a clip and pulls the breechlock to load a round in the chamber, he followed the figure towards one building. The thermal glasses also served as a night vision glasses upon pressing the button as the world turns green, staring at one unlabeled warehouse.

Upon reaching the warehouse entrance, he noticed that the locks seemed to have been melted away and an odor of acid was emanating from it. It was a clever plan, makes little noise and avoids the pain of having to pick the locks. Whoever this intruder was is a pro. Pulling out a small canister of lubricant with a thin straw attached to the nozzle he sprayed the hinges of the metal door, making sure that his entrance is a silent one. Allowing a full minute for the oil to completely soak, he pulls the handle and enters. Inside, towering crates create a man-made labyrinth that fills the entire edifice while the columns of light create an eerie effect. Switching the glasses back to thermal, he spots the lone intruder that seemed to crouch a few dozen yards away from him. The ramp way some forty feet above him, good enough to have a clear view from above as he searched for the stairs but proved to be a challenge because to the crates. A grappling gun to the ramps would have worked, but would undermine what ambushing is all about as he decides to go for a sneak attack. Slinging his automatic rifle over his shoulder, he pulls out a _kunai_, though not exactly a weapon carried by a government enforcer such as himself, it somehow felt a sense of comfort with it and knowing where he first acquired the weapon.

Turning around the corner, Arsenal concluded he was a few feet from the figure, which seemed not to take notice of his presence as it continued on what it was doing. Steeling his nerves, he moved from his crouching position and prepares to lunge. Everything was a blur as the figure felt its world suddenly came crashing down with a grunt as someone heavy was beginning to lock its arms in place.

"What the hell?" the man yelped as he tried to turn to find a young man wearing sunglasses. "Who the hell are you, pal?"

Arsenal's eyes widened upon hearing a man's voice as he removed the glasses. The problem with thermal vision is due to the limited detail of vision that outweighed its practical uses.

"Sorry about that," Arsenal said as he helped the poor man up. "I was following someone and looks like he destroyed the lock to the door." Then he showed the man his badge and ID.

"That's impossible," the man said upon seeing the ever-familiar shield of CBI. "I happen to be the foreman of this warehouse and nobody comes in here after hours except me for routine inspection. I even have the only key. I was just checking the crates before it gets shipped out to its proper owners."

Arsenal scratched the back of his head in frustration upon hearing the foreman's explanation when the lights went out with a loud clang. Arsenal immediately dons the glasses, setting the mode back to thermal vision as he ordered the foreman to lie low. Training his rifle, he locks his sights on the foreman, looking like a red glowing creature now laying low on the ground before checking his surroundings. Completing a couple of sweeps, he turns on the flashlight, instantly splitting the darkness with the bright glow of fluorescence. At this point he would have called for backup, unless if it were petty thieves breaking in that was something he could handle himself.

"Hey," Arsenal whispered audibly to the foreman, "what's being kept in here?"

The foreman slowly sat on his knee, as he answered, "Nothing too important. Some car parts, engines, glass, plastic, tires; this place is just to hold the city's car manufacturers' orders for materials."

"Anything else out of the ordinary?"

"Dunno, pal, but…" the foreman thought it over until he gasps a bit, "we've been keeping a rather large crate here and it's been sitting there for at least six months. No way for us to return it though I only found out about it when I got transferred here some four months back."

"And what's in it?"

"Lead sheets is what it said on the waybill."

"Lead sheets?" Arsenal mumbled. "And where are they?"

"At the middle." The foreman answered, "crate number 75233."

Arsenal pats the foreman's shoulder as a gesture of thanks as he ordered him to lay low. He slinks though the towering maze of boxes, hoping to find the mysterious intruder and hopefully get some answers. Turning sneaking a peek around a crate that contains side mirrors, Arsenal begins to pick up on a scent that smells like sulfur. Though it was unlikely that the perpetrator would burn himself in the process, sulfuric acid's fumes would definitely stick to clothing so much like a sore thumb in the eyes. His ears also picked up the sound of controlled breathing as he steels his nerves and grips the handle of his rifle to prepare for an ambush. In five seconds it would all be over as he said to himself and swings around to aim the muzzle at the thief's head.

And what's worse is that his sights and the flashlight picked up nothing but the dust particles stirred in the atmosphere.

Cursing himself, Arsenal lifts the glasses up to his forehead to get a clear view of his dark surrounding, trying to catch the faint scent of acid that still lingered in the air when he stopped. He begins to inhale slowly and carefully, his eyes slowly widened when his nose picked up something else aside from the smell of acid.

It was the smell of rosemary.

Though he was wearing his body armor, there was no mistake of something pricked at the back of his neck as he lowered his rifle and drops it at his side. He inhales a bit, savoring the exotic aroma that seemed much closer and his eyes hardened. Though he could never relinquish the bitter memory that caused him nearly four years of pain, he nevertheless wanted some answers on why she left Lian in the care of her uncle.

"It has been awhile… my love." An exotic female Far Eastern accent spoke next to his ear.

"Probably not long enough." Arsenal spoke, taking care to hide the trace of his own acid in his words.

"This sure brings back memories." His captor spoke, giggling a bit "But tell me, do you have what it takes to finish what you have started?"

"I might," Arsenal answered as he reached his middle finger and pressed something at the saddle of his right glove, "but this time it's personal." The back of Arsenal's body armor exploded with enough force to stun his captor as he jumped, pulling a pair of Glock 18c pistols from the holster and begins firing. With swift deftness and agility, the woman easily evades the hail of bullets with practiced ease as she landed on one of the crates with the lamp just right above her. Arsenal aimed his guns at her, to reveal the ever-familiar emerald _gi_ and the ivory mask she wore over her face and grinning fixedly at him. Somehow, the years were kind to her as well, no longer having the body of a nubile seventeen-year-old and instead filled into a full-grown woman's athletic body and still kept her hair the way she wants it.

"Why are you here, Cheshire?" Arsenal growled.

"For two things: business and personal." Cheshire hissed as she threw several _kunai_ at him. Arsenal jumps for cover behind the crate as he hears the wood being pierced by several metal points. Just as Arsenal prepared to return fire, a huge explosion rocked the entire warehouse, followed by the loud crash of debris falling from the ceiling and the roar of turbines. Floating above the hole of what used to be the warehouse's ceiling, a large craft hovered just above it and several lines were thrown at the sides followed by several SladeBots. Arsenal immediately pulls out his communicator and contacted Cyborg.

"Arsenal here! I need backup, pronto!" he shouted as he opened fire with his other hand.

"I got your location," Cyborg answered, "I'm sending Mammoth, Thunder and Lightning, and Kid Flash for backup."

In a few seconds, a sizeable portal begins to shimmer and tear in the fabric of space and out came Arsenal's backup.

"The cavalry's arrived, Arsenal!" Kid Flash hollered and joins in the fight. Mammoth begins to swing his fists at the SladeBots, turning them into scrap metal.

"Finally, some worthwhile entertainment!" Lightning cheered as he discharges his lightning towards the SladeBots. Burning them into ashes.

"I agree, brother!" Thunder roared as he slapped his open palms together, creating an immense shockwave that blew away the SladeBots surrounding him.

As the battle rages on, the SladeBots began securing the crate with chains while Cheshire oversees the process at the same time watching Arsenal fight off the SladeBots with an intent to kill. Arsenal dodges the SladeBot's right hook and immediately delivers a knee at the robot's midsection. Knowing that machines hardly feel pain, he quickly follows up on the counterattack with a clockwise sweep at its legs, flooring him as he pulls out his Glock 18c and immediately empties the clip at the SladeBot's face and body. Cheshire watches him carefully, noticing the listlessness of his eyes as he dispatches another SladeBot with a Desert Eagle he personally designed for speed shooting. As if the killer instinct in him has been fully awakened, she can only grin under her mask.

"You know," Cheshire's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a young man's voice, "I can't seem to find out what makes chick swoon over a guy who carries way too many guns. But then again, he wasn't compensating for something he lacks." Cheshire turned to her left to find Kid Flash sitting on the edge of the crate eating a candy bar. Immediately she pulls out a _kodachi_, a Japanese sword several inches smaller than its normal counterpart and swings at Kid Flash's throat, only to slice thin air.

"Sorry, but I don't have anyone in the family that has a beard so I'll have to pass the shave." Kid Flash said.

Several SladeBots landed also appeared, surrounding Kid Flash as he takes them out one by one with a hyper flurry of kicks and punches. Knowing when you cannot beat someone who can move in the speed of light, Cheshire decides to make a break for it as she hops off the crate. Upon landing, a huge shadow loomed over her as she finds the menacing look of Mammoth poised to grab her. She ducks under Mammoth's swipe and proceeded to knee him where it hurts the most. Like Goliath, Mammoth's groan rose a few octaves higher as he falls with a satisfying crash as he held his crotch. She breaks to a dash, only to be blocked by Kid Flash, making it look like a game of cat and mouse as she tried to run for the nearest escape route.

"Give it up, babe." Kid Flash flashed his signature grin.

Turning on her heals, she ran at the opposite side as Kid Flash shook his head. Just when he was halfway from where she was running, Kid Flash yelps in pain as he tripped on his feet and clutching it to find a few caltrops pierced his feet.

"Arsenal!" Kid Flash shouted, "Cheshire is getting away!"

Arsenal heard this as he turned, leaving his back exposed to a SladeBot who was about to fire his weapon. And before it could pull the trigger, its body twitched uncontrollable as thousands of volts of electricity surges through the robot as it fell to the ground. Arsenal turns around to find Lightning with the power in his raised hand powering down.

"We shall take it from here! Hurry and pursue the deviant." Lightning said as he rejoined his brother on a game of 'who gets to destroy the most automatons'. Arsenal grinned as he chased after Cheshire.

Outside, Arsenal spots Cheshire, dispatching a few guards who blocked her escape route as he immediately dashed towards her. As the last guard was kicked away with Cheshire's roundhouse kick, her body shot forward when she felt a heavy body tackle her to the ground. As they rolled, Cheshire planted her feet on Arsenal's chest and pushed with all her might, sending him flying in the air and landing hard on his rump. Arsenal quickly recovered, now standing face to face with the woman he considered as his former lover.

"Give it up, Cheshire." Arsenal warned as he aimed his pistol at her as the laser pointed at her heart.

"Do what you must to stop me, Arsenal." Cheshire whispered as she shifts to her combat pose. Arsenal assessed the situation with lightning speed as he holstered his weapon and pulled out his metal escrima sticks. The two combatants continued to stare at each other for two whole minutes, trying to reach each other's thoughts when her body shook as she screamed, much in Arsenal's shock. As she fell, Arsenal managed to catch her when Lightning landed where they are.

"Worry not," Lightning spoke, "I only stunned her. This deviant will soon deliver us to that treacherous Slade and end his onslaught."

Arsenal could heave out a sigh of relief as he saw Lightning's brother emerge from the warehouse, carrying Kid Flash over his right shoulder and Mammoth on his left.

* * *

Cheshire lay silently in the Titan Tower's medical bay as various tubes and an IV drip was attached to her arm. Despite of Arsenal's stalling, Cyborg removed Cheshire's mask, which revealed the Oriental beauty before her and some of them recognize her as Jade, the mother of Lian. Robin was present after hearing of the raid that happened in the industrial sector as he witnessed the unmasking of the deadly assassin named Cheshire.

"All this time," Robin said as he eyed Arsenal almost in an accusatory manner, "you never told us that Jade and Cheshire were one and the same."

"Believe me, Robin," Arsenal spoke, "Cheshire would e the last person who would team up with Slade."

Arsenal could only gaze at Cheshire with a hint of sadness in his eyes. Though she was now being treated for injuries, the straps that bind her midsection and hands proved otherwise. Cyborg continued to scan her using the various gadgets built into his artificial body, he reported that there is a faint radio interference coming off her.

"Must be some sort of tracking device." Robin concluded as Cyborg continued to home in on the source. The scanner managed to pinpoint the tracker as he gently lifts Cheshire's head and brushes her long hair to expose the back of her neck. A small blinking icon about an inch in diameter was revealed, along with the familiar insignia of the Titan's most dangerous foe.

"Looks like this tracker is imbedded in her spine, and one false move while removing it would trigger whatever it was rigged to go off." Cyborg concluded.

Robin immediately presses the button for the Tower's PA system, calling for Gizmo to report in the medical bay. In a few minutes, the dwarfish super genius hovers into the room, looking rather disgruntled as he muttered insults at the whole proceeding.

"Think you can deactivate it?" Robin asked as Gizmo scanned the device with his scope.

"If her body's like that tin man over there, I could. Otherwise you'd be better off finding someone else." Gizmo scoffed. "But it looks like I could do it."

"Go for it." Robin ordered as Gizmo presses a button on his controller as several robotic arms bearing various tools were extended. It took him about ten minutes, including a lot of snarky comments and insults before he managed to pry the device off her neck, leaving a small wound.

"Thing's been wired to release a neuro-toxin once tampered or if the device loses its primary signal." Gizmo concluded and was about to toss the device inside the pan when Robin stopped him.

"We could probably use this to see if we could find the source of the signal." Robin explained.

"Fine little birdie," Gizmo snapped, causing Robin's veins to throb irritatingly, "just let me get some rest and do it first thing in the morning." The little super genius left the medical bay.

"It appears that Cheshire is coming to consciousness." Starfire announced as everyone, including Arsenal waited.

Cheshire's eyes constricted in the brightness as she slowly adapts to it. Her blurred vision could make out several figures as it slowly clears, realizing that she is being stared at by the Titans. Looking at her left, her eyes widened, to find Arsenal looking rather displeased.

"Arsenal," Cheshire croaked as she gasps for air, "where am I?"

Arsenal approached Cheshire's bedside as he glared at her.

"That's not important," Arsenal's words were dipped in ice, "what I want to know is that way are you working for Slade?"

Cheshire's eyes widened upon hearing the name as her eyes rolled up and begins to fall into unconsciousness once again.

"Cheshire, answer me!" Arsenal yelled as he proceeded to grab her until Robin stopped him.

"There would be none of that, Arsenal." Robin shot him a warning look. "You'll get your chance to interrogate her once she's rested up."

Arsenal pulled his arm away from Robin's grip as he glared at him. What seemed like seconds felt like years as the Titans inside the medical bay could only watch with bated breath as Arsenal turned his back to Robin in a huff and left the room.


End file.
